go and so would everybody i know. thanks to paul wry cough, that question is openly publicly respectfully in play, a simple suggestion from an iraq vet. best new thing in the world giving in. house speaker john boehner ends days of gridlock over the payroll tax cut. traffic cameras capture a horrific motorcycle collision in china. and, what a view. a nasa orbiter delivers stunning new images. good morning, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with the

house folds after days of refusing to back down, house speaker, john boehner gave in to demands from the white house and his party to approve a two-month extension of expiring tax cuts. lawmakers can go home for the year, if all goes as planned. brian mooar joins us from washington with details. good morning. >> reporter: well, lynn, there's one last bit of drama and guess work. if even one lawmaker objects, the vote is pushed into next week. house republicans surrenders in the fight against the payroll tax cut. >> we were here fighting for the right things. may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world. i tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. >> reporter: facing pressure from 160 million americans who faced a january 1st tax increase

and members from their own party, republicans decided to go along with a two-month extension passed by the senate. language that protects small businesses from reporting requirements allows gop lawmakers to walk away with a consolation prize. it's a holiday gift for taxpayers, an election year present for president obama. >> this is it. this is why people get so frustrated by washington. >> reporter: surrounded by people who would pay if the tax cuts didn't pass, the president turned up the heat. now he's tweeting the victory isn't his, it's yours. if one lawmaker does object, which is more likely in the house than the senate, it would cost $4 million to bring everyone back for a vote. lynne? >> thank you. last night on "hardball" with chris matthews he talked with new york democratic

congressman about the difficulties speaker john boehner faces trying to reign in the more extreme tea party members. >> every three months the tea party republicans are willing to take it to the mat, hurt our economy and hurt the middle class. boehner has a real problem on his hands. every time -- every day, he's got this tea party caucus, a group of extremists who are offending moderate sensibilities, and the buck county independents you talk about. as a result, there's paralysis and chaos. it's what voters are going to remember. in arkansas's district, rick crawford, on december 20th puts out a press release demanding boehner join him in the irrespondable payroll tax deal then december 22nd, he demand

john boehner join him in a compromise. how do you deal with that when you have two chris crawfords? be sure to watch "hardball" with chris matthews only on msnbc, the place for politics. republican presidential hopeful, mitt romney received what could be an important boost of support from the nation's 41st president, george h.w. bush. he believed romney is the best chand for the white house calling him mature and reasonable, not a bomb thrower. bush told the paper he likes texas governor, rick perry, he's not surging forward. bush's comments were not a formal endorsement, they give an important boost to the romney campaign two weeks before the iowa caucuses. to overseas where a crackdown by syria's government

continues without let up. human rights activists say at least six people were killed in fresh attacks by government forces yesterday. amateur video shows black smoke and flames and one syrian city after alleged shelling by the president's forces. arab league delegates arrived in syria thursday ahead of monitors who want to assess whether the government is complying to peace initiatives. there are reports coming in saying quote, terrorists, unquote, attacked security in damascus. state tv is describing it as a double suicide car bombing. a number of civilians have been killed. here is your first look at other news going on. florida police cracked down a group of vandals, thanks to youtube. a video posted by the culprit

showed video of them ransacking several stores. they brought in one teen for questioning who identified the rest of the suspects. southern california's santa ana winds swept through yesterday hammering several neighborhoods. wind gusts 72 miles per hour were strong enough to rip trees from the ground and leave tractor-trailers overturned. wind warnings and advisories are expected to end today. a massive san francisco inferno. the blaze ripped through two residential buildings forcing half of the cities firefighters to suit up. two firefighters were hospitalized. 60 people were left homeless. finally, would have been nice to hang out here. the first day of winter felt nothing like it normally does in coastal georgia.

instead of bundling up, a day for fun in the sun. 80 degree weather gave locals one last chance to hit the beach before old man winter puts a freeze on the winter conditions. let's go there nationally for a moment. now a look at the weather with bill karins. >> it was ridiculously warm. >> i was missing the guy with the santa hat in his swim trunks. >> usually we do the polar bear plunge stories, but it's so warm, it's ridiculous. we are watching heavy rain in new england. unfortunately, a lot of ski resorts are getting rain. the ski resorts in new hampshire and maine are going to do the best with this, maybe a couple inches. it's not pretty. connecticut and pennsylvania last night, they got drenched with more heavy rain. the rain is heading out rather

quickly. if you are leaving now, for the next three hours you have to deal with heavy rain, boston, providence, heartford. new york city only have an hour or two with rain. philadelphia, same for you, maybe an hour, then you are done. northern new england takes awhile for the moisture to move out. one area, if you want a winter wonderland, it's new mexico. they got nailed with snow. south of albuquerque, these ski resorts have the best skiing. west texas is going to look at a chance at a white christmas. near 50 in d.c., 46 in new york. the cold air is out there. it's back here in the rockies, that's why we have been having the best ski conditions and snow. it's been chillier this winter, the east is very, very warm. starting with today, rain

exiting new england, snow in northern new england. showers in florida. middle of the country, quiet. there are snow showers from duluth to green bay, upper peninsula of michigan. that's it. light snow, as we mentioned in new mexico. west coast is fine. breezy out there in areas of southern california. christmas eve, we watch the storm from new mexico moving through texas. we have our fingers crossed for a couple snow flakes even in the ft. area. it would be saturday night. if you look out your window, unfortunately rain on christmas eve. christmas day, the southern system is a rain event for louisiana and mississippi. looks wet for you there. much of the northern half of the country looks fine. west coast, a front comes on with showers. a quiet forecast for anyone traveling and getting to grandma's house. >> thanks so much. that's good news.

coming up, more job improvement. best buy says ba humbug. what you are probably not going to find overhead this christmas. business headlines are straight ahead. a dramatic finish between the colts and texans. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. nyquil (st uffy ): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. here are the stories making news. an earthquake hit new zealand. no reports of serious injuries or damage. this comes ten months after a devastating 6.3 quake there left people dead. the entire police source of the mexican city vera cruz.

for now, the mexican army has been brought in to patrol the city. the washington monument has extensive damage that left it vulnerable to rainfall. that's according to a park service report that said inspectors found cracks and loose stones along the entire length of the structure. $7.4 million has been allocated for repairs. a collision between a motorcycle and a car. it sent the bike's two riders flying, both hospitalized with major injuries. these are beautiful. the orbiter beamed back images of the colorful moon surrounded by another moon. titan is the only known moon with a fully developed atmosphere. there's your space lesson for the day.

now, here is your look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 12,169 after gaining 61 points. s&p up 16 points. taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei up 64 points. wall street rallied on weekly jobless claims dropping to a three and a half week low. applications for benefits dropped. with just over a week of trade left in the year, thursday's gains left the s&p 500 less than a percent below where it started in 2011. the dow is up over 5% for the year and the nasdaq is down 2%. confident investors brushed off a downward revision. oh my goodness. unmistakable sides of

improvement this quarter. it's early, sorry about that. banks, energy and tech were the biggest gainers. morgan stanley, akamai zooming on purchasing a competitor. tibco. american greetings doven. bed bath & beyond slid after warning its earnings might miss. made johnson fell. no proof of the link between the formula and the death of a newborn missouri boy. days before christmas, best buy is playing the grinch, alerting some customers they won't fill their online orders. they won't specify how many orders or which are out of stock. bad news for christmas kissers out there. mistletoe is almost impossible

to find because of a texas drought. it's so scarce you may have trouble finding fake mistletoe. that surely won't stop you from your new year's kisses, i'm sure. coming up, the indianapolis colts come up big. plus, boise state led it right from the opening kick off. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. four minutes, around four bucks. i was in south korea. i was in germany. i was in iraq. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. and that's why i'm doing the job i'm doing now at chase, helping them hire veterans through the 100,000 jobs mission. because chase understands if you want an organization that's going to grow, that has a basis in ethics, and get the engine running again in america...

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or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. welcome back to "first

look." i'm lynne berry. in sports winless for the entire season. suddenly, the indianapolis colts picked up two wins. here is mario solis. >> losing the first 13 games of the season, they won their second straight. taking on the texans, it took them 59 minutes to find the end zone. they couldn't pick a better time to do it. indy shocks houston with a 19-16 win. college football, boise state. doug martin takes the ball at the goal line. untouched up the middle. makes his way to the sidelines. broncos playing with house money. to the second quarter, the broncos pull out a wild card. matt miller tosses it to iowa. boise state wins big, 56-24.

quarterback matt barkley will return to usc for his senior year. next season is the first year they will be eligible for a bowl game after two years of sanctions. the giants and jets play tomorrow. it was the islanders and rangers with bragging rights on the line. rangers up, 1-0. don't blink or you'll miss the next goal. they score on the doorstep. islanders a step behind all night. rangers win, 4-2. maple leaves tied at two. he proves he belongs unleashing a cannon. ryan miller never saw it. a 3-2 win. finally, predators rally from three goals down against the blue jacketed. martin completes it with 8.4 seconds left in the game. nashville wins this one, 6-5. that's your first look at

sports. now, for a look at the weather, we check in with bill karins. good morning, again, bill. >> good morning. this morning in new england, minor issues. it's wet and rainy. throughout the day, it's going to clear out. perfect for afternoon travel plans. boston, heavy rain. southern vermont and new hampshire has rain. the higher elevations is mixed with snow. it's not a big snowstorm out there. some of the big ski resorts are getting a little bit. new hampshire is starting to do a little better, also. as far as the forecast goes, the rain will clear out. it's a mild day in many areas. the airport should be all right. a chance of snow flakes this afternoon in up state new york. showers in florida. a quiet friday. probably new mexico, the highways covered in snow from yesterday and today. christmas eve, really the only storm on the map is down here in texas. west texas could get snow out of

this. rare to get a white christmas there. everyone else, light rain in the southeast for christmas day. a brown christmas for millions of us. >> depressing. >> i know. >> thanks. coming up, which film raked in millions overseas. plus, he's back and expected to blow up the competition at the weekend box office. your first look at entertainment is next. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ [ male announcer ] build your own unique memories with persona beads. now at zales, the diamond store.

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the daily news reported obama bought the wii game, just dance. they ruined the fun of opening

presents for them. hello. did you see this in a new interview, president obama was asked to describe michelle. he used the words beautiful, smart and funny. when asked how he picked those, he used the words she's sitting right next to me. >> jimmy welcomes seth meyers and musical performance with the muppets. that's weeknights 12:30 on your local nbc station. it's time for your first look at entertainment news. "mission impossible" the fourth film in the tom cruise franchise made $18 million in a five-day i max run. it opened wednesday with 9 million bucks. it's expected to finish with as much as 30 million. "the girl with the dragon

tattoo" opened with 5 million wednesday, rated r. it will make that the studio's $90 million investment. this weekend, it will finish second with $15 million. steven spielberg's "tin tin" made $109 million overseas. it should finish fifth with $10 million. the noncomputer generated option, "we bought a zoo." maybe you should not name the movie, we bought a zoo. i'm just saying. it's awkward. are you going the see any movie? >> i have never seen that. some families, it's a tradition. i have never done that. >> not so much? >> no. no tin tin for me. should i call your parents and warn them what they are getting

themselves into? >> exactly. i don't know if i'm going by myself. i'm lynne berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. ♪ >> where is he? where is he? >> he's a little late sometimes. >> what do you mean he's late sometimes. am i late? am i ever late to my show? >> um -- >> we give little willie a show. >> it's an adorable show, too. it's good for him. what? >> i give him everything. >> yes. >> everything. >> mm-hmm. >> willie, do you like your show? >> yeah, i guess so. >> he's doing